diarrhea

DIY Diaper Cream [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged babies / cream / diaper rash / diarrhea / DIY / ointment by

Diarrhea is not fun, diarrhea in kids is not fun, diarrhea in kids in diapers is certainly not fun.  Diaper rash can flair in just one or two diaper changes.

Diaper rash products

  1. Protectant ointments: like vaseline, kind of greasy but provide a moisture barrier to keep the skin’s moisture levels from getting out of balance.
  2. Zinc Oxide: like Desitin, white or opaque and thick, keeps the moisture in the skin in, and the moisture outside the skin out.  More completely covers diaper rash so really sore spots can heal faster.

Diaper Rash

Some diaper rashes are caused by a yeast imbalance, so doctors may recommend an OTC or prescription yeast cream.

Sometimes diaper rashes can be really itchy (even though little babies can’t tell you they itch, so all they do is cry), so OTC or prescription steroid creams can be used.

Diaper rash from diarrhea is usually caused by acid that is released in the liquid stool.  For babies in diapers, when acidic diarrhea exits the body, it hurts; but then it sits in the diaper and continues to hurt and irritate the skin.  Not to mention the irritation that may have already occurred due to frequent diaper changes.

A frequently recommended fix for diaper rash is air.  Letting the rash air dry and not be closed up in a diaper can work a lot of times.  That doesn’t sound like a great solution if baby has diarrhea.

There’s a butt paste that pharmacies can compound with a doctor’s prescription.

Recipe

  1. Aquaphor ointment (OTC) – kind protectant
  2. Mylanta (OTC) – antacid to neutralize acid
  3. Cholestyramine powder (Rx) – medication that treats cholesterol by trapping up lipids in the intestines so the body doesn’t absorb it – it can trap up bile that comes out in the stool

You can use 2 out of the 3 ingredients and do this yourself with a couple tools in your kitchen!

  • Heat the tub of aquaphor on a hot plate, or warm it in a double boiler, until melted.  (You don’t want to have to remove all the ointment from the tub to melt b/c you’ll waste some and it’ll be really gooey).
  • Add 2 Tbsp (30 ml, 1 fl. oz) of Mylanta to liquid Aquaphor and stir well.
  • Let it cool!  Do not put warm ointment on your baby!
  • Apply to baby bum as needed for diaper rash.

Doesn’t have to be just for babies….

Anyone who has had diarrhea and experienced the burn from the acid and irritation from frequent stools can benefit from this product.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Medication Intolerances 1 [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged allergy / diarrhea / intolerance / nausea / side effects by

Allergy vs Intolerance

Medication allergies, especially the dangerous, life-threatening kind, affect your entire body, multiple organ systems, and put you at serious risk of death.  They also require immediate medical attention.

Symptoms include:

  • Serious swelling
  • Not being able to breathe or swallow
  • Significant speeding or slowing of your heart rate or breathing
  • Blood leaking out of blood vessels into other regions of your body

Intolerances are usually related to regular side effects of the medications, but are so bad that you can’t tolerate it.  At no time should you be asked to keep taking something that makes you feel worse than death.  And in most cases, avoid it at all costs.  Other times, the discomfort can be short-lived or fixed by altering how the medication is used.

My main point is: intolerances to medication side effects are not true allergies (even though a lot of people will group them together when giving a medical history to a doctor or pharmacy).

Nausea

Nausea is a side effect of almost everything that you swallow.  It’s too vague and nondescript to be an allergy.  It is usually due to the increase in acid production by the stomach when it is trying to break down and dissolve the medication.

Nausea can be caused by:

  • Pain medications (narcotics)
  • Antibiotics
  • Any large, powdery elephant-sized tablet
  • Multivitamins

Nausea is a potential side effect of almost everything that you swallow.  It’s too vague and nondescript to be an allergy.  It is usually due to the increase in acid production by the stomach when it is trying to break down and dissolve the medication.

The main way to avoid nausea is to take the medication with food – and in some cases, a decent amount of food.

Some widespread advice is to take medications with milk because milk is a base to counteract the stomach acid.  Unfortunately, the calcium in milk and cause certain antibiotics to not work.  Also, some medications require acid to be activated, so making the stomach less acidic, reduces their effectiveness.

A Positive Side of Nausea?

Certain injectable medications for Type 2 Diabetes have a main side effect of nausea or indigestion.  With these medications, the patients are encouraged to keep taking them.  The logic behind this is that in most cases, someone with Type 2 Diabetes will be overweight.  And they may have been resistant to the lifestyle changes (i.e. diet and exercise) that would help improve their weight, thus also improving the diabetes outcomes.  So, if they take a medication that causes nausea thus reducing their appetite, it helps them limit their food intake, and the final results will most likely be weight loss.  This is really what the manufacturers think!

Diarrhea

Diarrhea can be caused by:

  • Antibiotics: They kill the bad bacteria that are making you sick, but also your good bacteria.
    • Take probiotics or eat live culture yogurt (the more diverse the better)
  • Certain cholesterol medications: Particularly, the ones that help trap up the fat in your intestines so it’s not absorbed and add it to your waste that is about to exit.  Fat is an oil.  Oil is slippery.  Poo that is slippery…you get the idea.
    • The less fat you eat, the less slippery things will be.
  • Metformin: It causes diarrhea in the beginning while the body is adjusting to it.  Diarrhea lasting a month sounds like forever, but is really not compared to the amount of time (aka the rest of your life) that someone may have to take this medication for Type 2 Diabetes.
    • The best way to control this is to start this medication low and slow.

The best way to counteract long-term diarrhea issues from medications is to use bulking fiber.  They help absorb extra water and add solid substance to stool so it’s firmer.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/